NEWS RELEASE
THE BOOKSHELF
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Erika Nielsen knew that her real language was music—her truest voice, the cello—by the time she was three-years-old. She knew she would become a professional musician by the eighth grade.
But she could never understand why sometimes she felt as if she was floating on sparkling clouds, enchanted by her own brilliance, while at other times she huddled in a dark, wretched place, sobbing and overcome with her inadequacy. At age 27, she finally found out: she was mentally ill.
In this frank and courageous memoir, Erika confronts the shock of her diagnosis of bipolar disorder and chronicles how, step by step, day by day, she walked herself to a place of stability and health.
Containing wellness tips and coping strategies to live creatively, productively, and healthily with a mental illness, Sound Mind is a story of hope, healing, and transformation that reminds us that it is not only possible to function with a mental illness, it is possible to thrive.
By promoting education, awareness and destigmatization of mental illness, Sound Mind helps write a new narrative around mental health and wellness.
(On Friday, June 28 the eBar will host Erika Nielsen who will be discussing her new book about her journey to mental health.)
More about the artist
Erika Nielsen is a Canadian cellist and writer based in Toronto. Erika has a multi-faceted career as a chamber musician, collaborative artist, orchestral player and educator, spanning Baroque and Classical traditions to contemporary and popular genres.
She has performed with artists such as Kanye West and Johnny Reid, and she is a graduate of The Glenn Gould School and Queen’s University. Erika is a blog contributor to BPhope.com and is also the author of the mental health blog soundmindbook.com.
A passionate educator, Erika maintains a busy private studio and is on faculty at National Music Camp of Canada. She is also a visual artist. For more on Erika visit her website.
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